Viral YouTube video leads to arrest of student in assault of teacher in Fukuoka

Roland Shichijo

5 months ago

A screen grab from a video showing a male student assaulting his teacher during class in Fukuoka City

FUKUOKA (TR) – A male student in Fukuoka City has been arrested after a video uploaded to YouTube that shows him assaulting his teacher went viral. The incident prompted other persons in the class to erupt into laughter.

Fukuoka Prefectural Police arrested the 16-year-old student of a private high school on suspicion of assault after he repeatedly punched and kicked his 23-year-old teacher during class on Thursday, TV Asahi reports (Sept. 29). He also grabbed his collar.

The student has admitted to the charges, quoted by police as saying there was “no mistake” he committed the assault that left the teacher with minor injuries, including bruises.

The suspect became enraged after the teacher took away his tablet computer following repeated warnings not to use the device during class, police said.

A classmate filmed the incident and shared the video on a chat application, according to the Nikkei Shimbun (Sept. 29). The 43-second video went viral after other students posted the video on Twitter. The matter came to light after viewers of the clip alerted police.

School officials announced plans to lecture all students after taking issue with those in the class that could be heard in the video erupting into laughter following the assault, which ended with the teacher apprehending the student. The clip now has nearly one million views on YouTube.